Process of drying hollow articles



Nov. 4 1924. 1,513,881

E. B. AYREs PROCESS OF DRYING4 HOLLOW ARTICLES Filed July 27, 1922 Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

ELWOOD B. AYRES, OP PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOB T PROCTOR 6c SCHWARTZ, INCORPORATED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, CORPORA- TION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF DRYING HOLLOW ARTICLES.

Application led July 27,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELWooD B. Armas, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadel hia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain mprovements in a Process of Drying-Hollow Articles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to improve the process of drying hollow ceramic arti- 19 cles, such as bath tubs; glasspots and hollow sanitary Ware.

This object I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accompanyin drawings, in'whichx,

fg. 1 1s a sectional view of a drier for drying` glass pots used in the manufacture of glassware;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a drierv adapted for dryinglar e articles, such as porcelain bath tubs; ang

Fig. 3 is a view of' another form of drier used for drying hollow articles and illustratin my improved process.

In ying open, hollow articles of clay,

or porcelain, it is diilicult to dr the interior of the articles by the usual met od of slowly circulating heated air around the articles. I have found that by increasing the speed of the circulating means the air in clrculatibn will travel at such a speed as to produce a partial vacuum inthe open, hollow articles, due to the suction of the currents of air passing over the openings therein,

with the result that the 'heated air in circulation passes into the interior of the artiand the moist air is withdrawn there- Referring in the first instance to Figt 1,`

which `illustrates, one` method of carrylng out my improved process, 1 is a casing of a drying apparatus havin two longitudinal partitions 2 separating t e casing into three compartments. The compartments 3 are the drying compartments and the compartment I 4 isthe circulating compartment.

A The d ng apparatus is of an length desired 1ayiid the articles are dbnveyed cfthrough the drier while the fans, which are located at intervals throughoutthe. drier, circulate heated air in the drying compartments. In the circulating compartments are fans 5, mounted on vertical shafts 6, driven in anysuitable manner. Above the fans is a 1922. Serial No. 577,899.

series of heating pipes 7, which heat the air incirculation. In the partitions 2 are openings 8lland .9 through which the air circulates. f"

Each drying compartment has a iioor 10 on Whichare rails 11. 12 are cars having wheels ladapted Vto the rails. These cars support the articles a to be dried, which, in the present instance, are glass pots in which glass is melted. Between the partitions 2 andthe cars 12, nearest the partitions, are horizontal partitions 13. B'etween the cars are continuations 13a of the partitions '13.

Inthe present instance, between the side walls of the casing and the cars nearest the side walls is a vertical partition 14 curved at the top 15 so as to direct the air over the top ofthe open, hollow articles mounted on the cars.

-16 are curved delectors directly under each fan v5 for directing the air under the cars 12. At the corners of the drying compartments are curved deectors 17 and 18. The air in circulation passes under the cars and 'over the hollow articles mounted on the cars and between the steam pi es, or other -heating means for reheating t e air. nThe fans are driven at a high rate of speed so that the air, in traveling over the open, hollow articles, will draw the moist air from y i the interior of the articles-forming a tial vacuum therein-which is replace a certain quantity of heated air in circula-v tion, which passes into the articles so that the air will circulate freely in the interior of the articles, as well as over the surface thereof, thoroughly drying each article.

lWhile the fans are illustrated as located in a certain position, -it will be understood that the location of the fans may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention. f v

Fig. v2 is a view illustrating another type of drier for carrying out myimproved process. In this re, -lis a casin in which are two partitions 2 at each si` e'separating the drying compartment 3Il from the heating or circulating compartments 4*. In the openings in the partitions are circulating fans 5a mounted on horizontal shafts 6.

air in circulation. a', in the present -inlos' 7- ma@ heating coils for heating the f stance, represent porcelain bath tubs The fans are ydriven at suc-h a speed that the air in cirmounted on the cars 12a.

culation passes rapidly over the open bath tubs, drawing the moist air from the interior thereof. As this moist air is drawn out, it is replaced by heated air so that the interior of each tub is dried substantially at the same time as the exterior.

In Fig. 8, another form of drier is illus trated, somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. l.v In this figure, an adjustable de- Hector 19 is' used. This def-lector is mounted directly above' the hollow article so that the This de- It will be seenl that byrapidly circulatingr heated air in a drier and over the open` hollow article, the air in circulation will draw the moist air from the interior of the article being dried. This moist air will be immediately replaced by a portion of the heated air in circulation.

I claim:

The process herein described of drying hollow articles having open tops, said process consisting in circulating heated air rst under each article and then past the open- 'ing r therein atA a speed sulcient to cause a partial vacuum to be formedv Within each article to cause a circulation of heated air in the articles.

ELWOOD B. AYRES. 

